Superbowl shows broadcast double standard

Super Bowl halftime shows usually remain the topic of multiple conversations, well after the game weeks after it’s ended.

This applies this year but not for being amazing.

The Maroon 5 performance left some viewers criticizing the double standard of what is shown on television, specifically the appearance of Adam Levine’s nipples.

Television specials such as the Super Bowl has always been “family friendly,” which it has stayed.

This year’s halftime show performer Travis Scott was censored for language throughout his entire performance.

Some viewers likely did enjoy the show, but many didn’t because of its length and just because not many people like Maroon 5.

The talk of the internet though, is the band’s lead singer, Levine, losing layers over the course of his performance.

Some viewers would have enjoyed this if they could get past the controversial nudity slip of 2004, known as “nipplegate.”

Janet Jackson’s nipple was exposed during Super Bowl XXXVIII for half a second, after Justin Timberlake pulled on her bustier.

That split second resulted in Jackson being banned from performing at the Super Bowl for life — while Timberlake was invited back in 2018.

If this had happened in the present, it wouldn’t have been such an issue as it was when the event occured.

Over the years, it’s noticeable how much more relaxed television has gotten since the early 2000s. For example, in the past a show wouldn’t even think about showing underwear but now, they will show characters half-nude.

Today’s culture has definitely become desensitized to what is portrayed on TV, just by the fact that some topics do not bother viewers.

TV-PG and TV-14 have hit the borderline with the content —not that viewers mind. It just shows that some writers are adapting to the audience that they are trying to entertain.

Some television shows have even started to resemble shows on Netflix, though it seems the comparison is irrelevant. Netflix isn’t regulated for content since it is an internet service, therefore the FCC has no jurisdiction.

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The Collegian is the student newspaper of San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif. The paper is published six times a semester in the fall and spring.

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